Tank-car



E. D. LEVY AND H. W. JACOBS.

TANK CAR.

APPLICATION FILED APl-LZS, I917.

Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

- of Topeka,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD D. LEVY, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI, AND HENRY W. JACOBS, 0F TOPEKA,

KANSAS.

TANK-CAR.

Spuufilvwb'iOn ofLetters Patent.

Patented Maia-9, 1920.

Application filed April 23, 1917. Serial No. 163,809.

To all who/a may concern.

Be it known that we, EDWARD D. LEVY and HENRY W. J Acons,'citizens of the United States, and residents of Springfield, in the county of Greene. and State of Missouri, and in the county of Shawneeand State of Kansas, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tank-Cars, of which the following is a de scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of our specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in tank cars employed for the shipment of hydrocarbon. oils, and has for its object the provision of a tank or barrel provided with an insulated wall surrounding the entire tank, namely the cylindrical sides as well as the ends or heads thereof, in order to minimize the danger due to the rising temperature of the tank contents and therefore to the expansion of the inflammable gases formed within the tank; in other Words the object of our invention is to provide a tank whereby the danger of explosion is greatly reduced.

Another object of our invention is to provide a tank car wherein the dome cap-will. be locked by suitable means automatically controlled by the pressure within the tank, so that removal of the dome cap, while the pressure within the tank is above a predetermined or danger point, will be impos-' sible until the pressure has been practically reduced to that of the atmosphere, and thereby substantially eliminate the danger of ex plosion occurring while repairs, inspection and the like are attempted to be made within the tank.

A further object of our invention is to provide a tank car of the character herein specified, which however, will be inexpensive to manufacture, simple in construction and at the same time positive in action when the pressure within the tank is of a given degree and inoperative in action when the tank is not under internal pressure; the means be ing such, however, that the same may be manually operated should it at any time become desirable to do so. I

The above enumerated characteristics of our invention, as well as others inherent in the construction, will be more fully comprehended from the detailed advantages and description of the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 1s a partial side and partial longi-- tudinal sectional view of our improved tank 1 car construction;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the tank dome illustrated in Fig. 1; portions of the dome and one of the safety-valves being shown in cross section in order to more clearly illustrate the internal construction.

Fig. 3 is'a partial side and partial sectional view of the upper or dome portion of our improved tank car, illustrating a modified form of our invention, the sectional View being taken substantially at the vertical center of the dome.

Fig. 4 isa detail sectional view, in side elevation of a position of the dome and upper portion of the tank barrel, to illustrate a modified form of securing the dome to the tank barrel.

Inthe exemplification of the invention, as disclosed in Fig. 1, the tank or barrel of the car is composed of a suitable number of cylindrical sheet metal sections 10, disposed transversely of the car, with the respective sections being flanged outwardly, as shown at 11; the flanges of adjacent sections being secured together with intervening calking strips 12.

The shell-sections 10 constitute the inner wall of the tank or barrel, as clearly shown to the left in Fig. 1; and the flanges 11 are disposed outwardly and thus provide suitable spacing members intermediate of the inner wall and the outer wall of the tank or barrel.

The outer Wall is composed of similar flanged sections 13 of larger circumference in order to provide an intervening air space 14 between the two walls of the tank. The calking strips 12 are The end sections of the innerv wall of the tank are provided with preferably concavo-convex heads 16, the sides whereof are provided withv outwardly disposed flanges, as indicated at 17; the flanges being formed and disposed in a manner similar to the flanges of the inner wall sections 10. The flanges of the heads 16 provide spacing means intermediate of the inner heads 16 and the outer heads 18, which are preferably of similar construction, and maintain the heads in spaced relation so as to provide a dead air space 19 between the inner and outer heads of the tank or barrel. The calking strips 12, secured to the end sections, like the calking strips between the intermediate sections, are made of a width to extend between the flanges of the outer head sections and the end sections of the outer wall; and the respective heads, like the shellsections, are suitably riveted together or otherwise secured in place.

' The calking strips 12, at points adjacent the top of the tank or barrel, may be formed so as to provide the outwardly extending brackets or lugs 20, shown at the right in Fig. 1, to form suitable support for the running board shown at 21.

In forming the tank in the manner just described, the tank or barrel of the car will be provided with. a dead air chamber entirely around the tank shell proper and thus provide insulating means whereby the contents of the tank or barrel will be maintained at a comparatively even temperature and thus greatly reduce the possibility of the temperature of the contents of the tank being increased by extraneous conditions.

The inner wall of the tank, to wit the intermediate shell-sections of the inner wall, are cut away and provided with a vertically disposed dome 22, the lower end whereof is preferably flanged outwardly to provide a suitable attaching point, as shown at the left in Fig. 1 the lower or flanged portion of the dome being preferably secured to the inner shell-sections by the autogenous or electric method of'welding. as indicated at i 23. The top of the side wall of the dome is provided with an outwardly disposed flange 24 of such width as not only to enable the cover 25 to be secured thereto, but also to permit the outer dome wall 26 to be secured to the flange as disclosed at the left in Fig. 1. The dome-cover 25 i8 preferably flanged, as shown, in order to permit it to be secured in. place by means of suitable bolts, as indicated at 27 and the outer dome-section 26 is also shown secured to the flange at the top of the dome wall 22 by means of suitable bolts, as indicated at 28. The outer dome wall 26 may be secured to the outer wall of the tank or barrel in any suitable manner as, for example, by a welded seam, as indicated at 29, or in any other suitable manner. As is clearly evident from the construction as shown at the left in Fig. 1, the dome is also provided with a surrounding air space, thus providing suitable insulation for the dome similar to that provided for the tank or barrel proper.

The dome-cover 25 is shown provided with a suitable screw-plug 30 which may be removed so as to relieve pressure within the tank before the dome-cap 31 has been removed. The dome-cap 31 is provided with the depending flange 32, a portion whereof is shown screw-threaded so as to permit the cap to screw into the opening provided in the covering 25, while the lowermost portion of the flange 32 is provided with a circumferential grooy e shown at 33 adapted to receive the end of a pin or bar 3% pivotally secured at one end of the bell-crank lever 35; the bar or pin being slidably mounted in the lugs3-4E formed on the inner side of the dome-covering 25, see Fig. 1. The-bell-crank lever 35 is pivoted at 36 and extends through the horizontally disposed portion of the angularly bent conduit 37, with the end of the bell-crank lever 35 pivotally secured to the stem of one of the safety-valves 38. The standard method of tank car construction at present contemplates the use of two safety-valves arranged side by side, asshown in Fig. 2, where the one valve with which the bell-crank lever 35 connects is cut away, while the other is shown in plan. The safety-valves 38 may be of a well known construction, being held on their seats by means of suitable springs adapted to release the valves when the pressure in the tank exceeds a given degree, namely a degree beyond the normal holding tension of the spring.

As is evident from the construction shown in Fig. 1, when the pressure within the tank is suflicient to raise the safety-valves 38 ofl' their seats, the bell-crank lever 35. by reason of its connection with the stem of one of the valves, will be rocked'about its pivotal point 36 and induce the bar or rod 34 to be forced into the groove 33 in the flange of the dome-cap 31, thus making it impossible to remove the cap 31 as long as the pressure removed as long as excessive pressure in the tank is maintained; in which condition it would be dangerous to remove the cap.

The dome-cap 31 is shown provided with a sealing device which comprises .the bar 39, the chain 40 secured to the dome-cap 31 and the sealing chain 41; the bar 39 being locked in place by the usual car seal which is intended to be broken only by the proper party or oflicial having authority to do so; the seal being intended to be broken at a time when it is intended-to remove the cap 31 for the purpose of refilling the tank or for the purpose of inspection. The bar 39 will alsoprevent the rotation of dome-cap 31 by means of a suitable lug or pin 42, see Fig. 2. protruding from the cap 31, as shown. This will prevent the dome-cap 31 being screwed out of the dome-cover 25 before the seal has been broken; the unscrewing or removal of the cap, of course. only being made possible when the lock-bar or pin 34 has been withdrawn from the groove In Fig. 3, we illustrate a modified form of our invention, wherein the tank-proper is formed with an inner and outer wall as in the construction shown in Fig. 1, and the dome is also provided with an outer casing or wall formed like the dome in Fig. 1 and secured to the walls of the tank or barrel in a similar manner; but the dome-covering and the dome-cap locking-mechanism are differently constructed. In this construction, the dome-covering 25 is shown formed of a heavy casting. provided, of course, with the thread opening to receive the dome-cap 31 which screws into the opening as shown, with the lower end of the flange of the cap provided with the groove 33* which is adapted to receive the rod or pin 43 attached to the piston 44. The covering 25 is shown provided with a cylinder 45 in which the piston 44 is slidably mounted; the piston and its rod 43 being maintained in outward or withdrawn position, namely to the left in Fig. 3, by means of spring 46. The cylinder 45 is provided with a port or point of communication 47 to the left of the piston in Fig. 3, namely on the side of the piston opposite to that on which spring 46 is located; the port effecting communication between the cylinder and the tank interior, so that pressure in the tank, and therefore within the dome, if of a degree beyond the predetermined tension of spring 46, will cause piston 44 to move to the right in Fig. 3 and thereby force the pin or rod 43 into the groove 38 and thus prevent removal of dome-cap 31 The outer end of cylinder 45 is shown provided with a plug 48 preferably threaded so as to screw into the end of the cylinder to normally close the latter and yet at the same time permit access to the piston being had upon the removal of the plug 48. The plug 48 is provided to enable the piston being manually withdrawn or moved backward by means of the eye 49, should the piston for any reason remain in locking position at a degree of pressure lower than that desired.

In order to permit the piston to move toward the closed end of the cylinder, namely toward the right in Fig. 3, the covering 25 is provided with a. port 50 opening into the atmosphere so as to prevent undue pressure on the spring side of the piston which would tend to prevent the proper movement of piston 44 through the action of pressure in the tank. The spring 46 governs the pressure at which the piston 44 may operate; the spring being made of such tension that operation of the piston will not occur until a given degree of pressure in the tank has obtained.

The construction shown in Fig. 3, as is elearly'evident, is absolutely independent. of the safety-valves located in the angularly bent conduit 37, shown provided with the two valve-receiving branches or ramifications; one of which is cut away in Fig. 3. The dome-covering 25*, like the dome-covering 25, is also provided with the screw-plug 30 which may be removed to relieve pressure within the tank before the dome-cap 31 has been removed.

Instead of connecting the dome to the tank-shell, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the manner disclosed in the detail sectional view. Fig. 4, may be employed, which consists in providing the intermediate shell-section 10 with the upwardly disposed flange 51 to which the dome 22 may be welded, as shown at the welded seam 52; and, if desired, this same method may be employed in connection with the outer covering or shell as is clearly apparent.

The bottom of the tank or barrel is shown provided with an outlet valve indicated at 53, which, as is clearly evident, may be operated without the necessity of breaking the seal on the dome-cap, as the latter need merely be removed when it is desired to refill or inspect the tank. The bottom of the tank is also provided with a manhole 54 to permit repairs being made in the bottom of the tank when. it has been emptied. As is clearly evident, air may be allowed to circulate through the tank to remove any asphyxiating gases, by opening manhole 54 and removing dome-covering 25 through the removal of bolts 27.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, we provide a tank car wherein the dome-cap is automatically locked in closed position when the pressure in the tank exceeds a predetermined degree, or degree of safety; the automatic control of the cap being controlled either by the usual safety valve or valves provided on the dome, or by independent means. The automatic looking or control mechanism prevents the removal of the dome-cap while pressure in the tank exceeds that to which the safety-valves are set, thus obviating the danger of a disastrotis explosion caused by opening the tank while under pressure,

We have shown and described several forms of the invention, and do not believe tions of construction which maybe made without, however, departing from the spirit. of our invention.

What we claim is:-

1. A tank ('ar provided with a dome, a removable cap for the dome. a safety-valve connected with said dome and adapted to be unseated when pressure in the tank exceeds a predetermined degree, and means intermediate of said valve and said dome-cap whereby the latter is locked against removal when said valve is unseated.

2. A tank car provided with a dome hav ing a removable cap, the dome being provided with a safety valve adapted to be moved off its seat when pressure in the tank exceeds a predetermined degree, a latch member adapted to move into locking engagement with said cap, and n'iechanism intermediate of said latch member and said safety-valve whereby the member is forced into locking engagement with said cap when the valve moves off its seat.

A tank car provided with a dome having a removable cap, locking means adapted to move into locking engagement with said cap but normally out of locking engagement therewith, and gas pressure affected means arranged in the dome and in controlling re lation with said locking means, said last means being adapted to operate when the pressure in the dome exceeds a predetermined degree whereby the locking means is moved into dome-cap locking position.

4. A tank ear provided with a dome having a removal'ile-cap, a spring-controlled safety-wilve normally held on its sealtl-rrough the action of its spring, a slidably mounted latch-rod adapted -to move into locking engagement with the cap, and means intermediate of said safety-valve and the latch-rod, adapted to move the latter into latching engagement with the cap when the pressure in the tank exceeds a predeterniined degree.

5. A tank car provided with a dome having a removable cap, a latch rod adapted to slide into locking engagement with said cap. and spring-controlled means operatively connected with said latch rod and adapted to be affected by pressure in the tank when the pressure exceeds a predetermined degree whereby the latch rod is moved into locking engagement with said cap.

EDW'ARD D. LEVY. HENRY W. JACOBS. \Vitnesses N. A. STREET, F. A. FLORELL. 

